'Herdsman' arrested after elderly couple attacked, shot in their Free State home

14 October 2020 - 08:19 By nonkululeko njilo
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A suspect has been arrested after an attack on an elderly couple at their Free State farm.
A suspect has been arrested after an attack on an elderly couple at their Free State farm.
Image: Gary Horlor

Three days after an elderly couple was attacked and shot in their home in Hennenman, Free State, police made a breakthrough in the case with the arrest of a 33-year-old suspect on Tuesday. 

The suspect is a herdsman who had been hiding at the time of his arrest, according to police spokesperson Brig Motantsi Makhele. 

"This follows an incident at about 10.10pm on Saturday when an elderly couple was sitting and chatting with their neighbour at a farm in Hennenman district. Two unknown suspects allegedly entered the farm house and started shooting.  The 60-year-old woman was shot in the chest and in the knee, and her husband, who is 62, was also shot twice in the leg. The neighbour escaped unharmed," he said.  

The suspect and his accomplice, who is on the run, allegedly fled the scene with the victims' cellphones.  

The couple were hospitalised for treatment of their wounds.

Makhele said: "On October 13, the Free State Organised Crime Unit, working together with Hennenman detectives, responded to information that led them to a farm near Hennenman where one of the suspects, a herdsman, was found hiding and arrested.  His accomplice is still on the run and investigations continue."

The suspect was expected to make his first court appearance in the Hennenman magistrate's court on Thursday.

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